Alleged assaults turned over to district attorney

MOUNT OLIVE -- An investigation by Mount Olive police has been completed into an alleged rape and an alleged attempted rape at Mount Olive College without any charges being filed. However, the police have submitted their case files to the Wayne County District Attorney's office for review and to determine if they warrant being submitted to the grand jury for possible indictment.

The alleged rape was reported on Oct. 13 and the alleged attempted rape on Nov. 1.

The suspect is the same person in both incidents, said Chief of Police Brian Rhodes. The two victims and suspect are students at the college and in each incident the victim knew the suspect, he said.

Such reviews are not unusual, said Rhodes and District Attorney Branny Vickory.

Vickory said that as of late Wednesday afternoon he had not yet seen the files.

He said his office would review the files and evidence before deciding whether to submit the case to the grand jury. How long that review will take will depend on several factors including any evidence that has to be sent to the SBI lab.

The first incident allegedly occurred Oct. 5 at a girls' dormitory and involved a 17-year-old female, police said.

Police were called to Goshen Medical Center on N.C. 55 West where the victim told the officer that she and the assailant used to date, but had broken up in September. However she said they had "remained acquaintances."

The victim told the officer that the suspect "showed up at" her dorm room and asked her "to change into a pair of shorts," which she did.

The police report noted that the suspect "then forced (the victim) onto her bed and began to kiss and fondle her" but the victim told him "she didn't want to mess with him" at which time the suspect told her to "quit being so loud."

Police said the suspect undressed "then forced (the victim) back on the bed and raped her."

Police said the second incident, involving a 19-year-old female, happened on Nov. 1 at Grantham Hall, the men's dormitory on the college campus. A third party -- a female who knows the victim -- reported the second incident on behalf of the victim, police said.

A police officer met with the victim at a college dorm. The victim said she had gone to the suspect's dorm room "to hang out with him" when the alleged attack occurred.

The police report noted that the victim told police that the suspect forced her onto the bed against her will and she "began telling (him) to get off of her." The victim said that the suspect was holding her down by her wrists.

The victim told police that she began "yelling at" and "pushing" the suspect before escaping the room.

Rhodes, who has been with the Mount Olive Police Department for 25 years, said the reports are the first such incidents that he knows about being reported at the college.